If more product leaders thought like designers, we’d have clearer roadmaps, happier teams, and better products. But that’s surprisingly hard to find, isn’t it?
So few designers make their way into product leadership roles, and so few product management cultures support the kind of experience-driven thinking that a design-minded product leader could bring to the table.
That’s why I was excited to talk with Che Douglas on the latest episode of our design leadership podcast Finding Our Way. Che is an established design leader who has made the transition to product leadership at the executive level, giving him a perspective on both mindsets that few others have.
So how do you bridge those cultures successfully as an executive? One element that Che calls out is key: flexibility. It’s something I’ve seen with my executive coaching clients as well. The more rigidly you define what you have to offer as a leader, the less likely you are to wield the influence necessary to truly impact the direction of a product.
That means, as Che points out, doing a lot of listening, and doing it with an open mind. Design leaders are so often listening for their opportunity to speak, rather than bringing the empathy they’ve developed for customers to their engagement with their stakeholders. Chasing the promise of the perfect opportunity to (finally!) drive a conversation on design’s terms blinds them to the potential to drive new conversations by letting go of those terms.
It doesn’t mean you stop advocating for design or for the designer’s lens on a problem. But it does mean advocating for those things as a means towards a larger end that may not be expressed in design’s terms at all.
Jesse James Garrett 